1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a pressure housing for a sterilization chamber receiving a sterilization vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to curb costs in medicine and to prevent waste requiring special disposal, it is necessary to abandon the use of disposable instruments, as they are called, and return to instruments which may be used repeatedly, which calls for the reinstitution of sterilization techniques. To this end, costly autoclaves have been replaced by energy-saving small devices which can be used for fast and economical sterilization of instruments at the location of their use (see EP 0429 960).
In the known arrangement, the sterilization vessel is constructed as a detachable cassette whose base part and cover part are held so as to be pressed together tightly in a holding device during the sterilizing process by flange-like edges with the intermediary of a seal.
However, the construction of the sterilization vessel as a cassette formed by two parts and closed on all sides toward the outside atmosphere has proven costly to manufacture. Further, close tolerances must be maintained during production to enable coupling with the associated feed lines and outlet lines when the cassette is slid into the holding device.
Therefore, there exists a need for further simplification of such devices, particularly with respect to the construction of the necessary pressure housing receiving the sterilization vessel and with respect to loading the pressure housing with instruments to be sterilized while at the same time reducing manufacturing costs.
However, the relatively close tolerances for the pressure-tight closing of the sterilization space which is indispensable to its operation and must be ensured over a long period of use in spite of sharply fluctuating thermal loading presents an obstacle to inexpensive construction of the pressure housing for such sterilization chambers. Otherwise, it cannot be ensured that the instruments will be sterilized as required.